Animal Cruelty-The Sloth Bear's Dance

Cat in a Bong- More Animal Cruelty

2009-09-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

Just in case there is someone out there to which, that concept is in any way indistinct, yes that is absolutely animal cruelty. The very notion that a individual could be in any way perplexed as to whether or not the true response is yes or no, really alarms me. I am supposing this guy had a license, as well as a vehicle, so that means he was out travelling on public roadways along with the rest of the uninformed residents. That's not very comforting, particularly if one has progeny roaming or peddling their bicycles on the same roads with this person. Outside of the actuality that this guy really can't afford to be reduced by any more brain cells by smoking pot, is anyone going to provide him any sort of psychological scan prior to officials letting him out onto the streets again? I wonder.

I would be fascinated to know in a couple of years if there were any remaining effects from breathing so much smoke, never-mind the drug's effects on the poor kitten's brain. A kitten or a puppy is very energetic while they are growing up, especially if they are bored. Maybe if the kitten's owner had taken it out and played with it or exercised it, then the cat would have been peaceful. Just a notion. I know it's not the most horrible thing that could ever take place to an animal, but it still isn't correct. This guy absolutely took the human out of humane.

For my part, I delight in all of my cat's behavior. Occasionally they seem possessed when running up and down the hallway for no visible reason, but it doesn't interrupt me. Other times they nap all over the furniture all day long then stay outside all night in the summertime. Cats are well, cats. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I may be prejudiced because I like them so much. It's a pleasant feeling to have your cat come and curl up on your lap and purr while you're reading or watching television.

I don't know about everyone else, in my opinion the guy who put the cat into the bong ought not to be able to have any more animals in his custody ever again. I really hope that no young children hear about this unpleasant incident and think it is funny or cool behavior. Parents need to explain what happened and ensure that their children recognize that you don't do things like that to animals. An animal, especially a pet, believes and loves the people who care for it. That makes it so much simpler to injure the pet because it does trust you so much. When animals can't let anyone know when something is hurting them or they need something, all they can do is hang on for us to figure it out and assist them. I am pleased someone spotted that the kitten needed some help. Thank you to whomever it was, one can assume the cat thanks you as well.

2009-09-24T14:41:00.000-07:00

Changing Attitudes About Animal Cruelty

Animal welfare education continues to remain a serious part of the process used for ending all types of animal cruelty, in any country. The WSPA is working tirelessly to promote a greater awareness with programs designed to educate the general populous. A number of of these include helping the Kalandar tribesmen access funds and equipment to pursue other lucrative jobs than dancing bears. In order to acquire funds and training, they have to consent to relinquish their dancing bears. The WSPA funds an animal crimes hot line that one of their affiliate societies-Education For Nature runs. They are committed in giving monetary assistance to the Agra Bear Rescue Centre to help them maintain the care of the rescued bears in safety and ample consideration. Many other animal welfare organizations are working in the direction of these goals at the same time as well. They include but are not restricted to, Wildlife SOS, International Animal Rescue, and The Humane Society. Until we at the same time as individual beings, understand that all animals deserve to live humanely and not tormented or starved, we will behave cruelly toward others with the same heartbreaking disregard for all life.

The WSPA is fortunate to have attracted well-known help in educating other people on the continuing torment of captive bears on "bear farms" in Asia. Jackie Chan, a famous actor, has again shown his support by making a short, filmed public service broadcast in Cantonese, Vietnamese, Mandarin, as well as English. Collectively, Jackie Chan and the WSPA want to expose the horrible torment and appalling cruelty to about 12,000 bears living in misery on Asian bear farms. The 30 second PSA done by Mr. Chan is intense and heart-wrenching, but how can the bear's misery be forever stopped, if we don't know of it? These bears are part of our world right now, but how much more environmental and hunting pressure can a species take. Bear bile farming is one of the horrifying and inhumane acts that humans inflict on animals so unlucky to be snared. This kind of education is a distressing, slap in the face sort of wake up call for us, but apparently needed as this atrocity has been going on in Asia for decades.

The respective governments of these countries know what's going on in the farms. Various even sanction the occupation to some level by allowing them to exist and be regulated by their government. In China, bear farms are officially legal. Government officials are meant to make sure somebody makes the farmers adhere to the standards used for maintaining the strength and well-being of the bears. The negative publicity from many people due to the distribution of pictures screening bears that were catheterized was more ignited by having the awful occupation of extracting bile from the bear's gallbladder exposed. The Chinese government was shamed into regulating the way bile was extracted and now promotes the free-draining method as being much more humane for the bears. This statement is now known to be false. Using a catheter became illegal in vogue the 1990s, but the alternative is now the same , if not worse. Opening a permanent hole in the bear's belly from the gallbladder to the outside of its body creates a nice breeding ground for bacteria and will soon be infected. The free-draining method is accomplished by puncturing the gallbladder and creating a channel so that a tube can be inserted to suck away the bile. Preliminary medical examinations of newly-rescued bears generally exhibition infection of the area in and around the hole, with ulcerated skin all around the wound, due to irritation from caustic bile leak. Bears are routinely operated on to remove the gallbladder when they arrive at the rescue centre. The gallbladder is in such bad shape that even if it to was functional, soon complications would necessitate the removal of it anyway. Often nearby are gallstones, infection, clusters of polyps that may fill the gallbladder so the bile cannot move through it.

The wound (fistula) tries to heal itself and the farmer has to shove a catheter through the curative skin to open a hole again so he can suck away the bile. Sometimes a piece of hot metal is used to cauterize the wound to keep it open, ending in causing extreme pain for the bear. A number of bears are killed by getting peritonitis as the bile leaks back into the abdominal cavity causing extensive infection to other organs like the liver as well as the gallbladder. Various post mortem examinations found as much as several liters of pus in the abdominal cavity. This death can be caused by botched surgeries done by untutored workers or the farmers themselves. No ethical veterinarian would consent to do such a clearly cruel procedure on an animal.

How can the farmers and government officials downplay this torture of an animal? How can even slightly evolved, sane individuals downplay this cruelty? I challenge the propaganda saying that it doesn't hurt the bear to extract bile from its gallbladder every single day, sometimes more than once in a day! Bears have been observed to be moaning, bashing their heads on their cage bars, chewing on the bars, and even chewing their own paws while being "milked" for their bile. Can you really believe it doesn't cause the bears agony? I don't believe it doesn't hurt.

Making Bears Dance is Animal cruelty

2009-09-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

This is an act of animal cruelty that I never knew existed until this week. I shudder at the depths to which humanity can sink. And yet, there are some of us that reach out into the dark to save a fellow creature from pain and abuse. I hope to encourage more of these kind people to reach out and save the Indian sloth bear from any more suffering and cruelty.

Every year Indian sloth bears, aka. Indian dancing bears, are poached from their wild habitats and subjected to a life of pain and slavery. Snatched from their den or mother after she has been brutally killed, their misery begins. Sloth bear cubs as young as 3-5 weeks old are fair game for the poachers, who throw them terrified, into sacks and take them to a Kalandar village. The Kalandars are the traditional trainers and owners of the "dancing bears". Dragging the bears from village to village, forcing them to perform 6-10 hours a day in the blazing heat, they earn maybe about $65.00 a month. Because of this abusive treatment a captive sloth bear can seldom survive more than 7-8 years. In the wild, the average lifespan is estimated at from 20-30 years.

Up to 70% of the baby sloth bears don't survive long enough to be "trained" to perform for the tourists. Many cubs die of neglect, hunger, and dehydration before they reach the Kalandar village. Others die from the cruel treatment they receive from their captors. Starved and beaten if they don't cooperate, the sloth bear cubs get no medical attention for wounds inflicted by sticks, rocks, or metal rods used to punish them and break their spirit. The young bears weaken as the wounds become infected and without the proper nutrition in their diet, the sloth bear cubs get sicker and sicker, until they die of malnutrition and disease. Many end up with tuberculosis from exposure to people in villages where it is a problem. The cubs are stressed and not fed their regular diet, so because they are babies and still need the care of their mother, they aren't strong enough to make it on their own.

The training of the sloth bears by the Kalandars is passed from father to son. This "profession" is the means of supporting large family groups and other means of employment usually aren't even considered. Due to the constant travelling from one village to another, children aren't able to attend school. When that happens the opportunities are minimal for other employment due to the lack of education. So poachers go into the forest and steal bear cubs out of unguarded dens to sell to the Kalandars to use for their travelling performances.

Although once common, some species of Indian bears are killed by the thousands every year for their gallbladder and other body parts. Their populations are now fragmented throughout the country of India and becoming increasingly rare. Sloth bears are hunted and killed in India along with other species of bears in other countries as well. They are killed for the bear bile in their gallbladder. It may be that the bears who are killed for the bile are the lucky ones. The most cruel and painful abuse of the bears happens when they are captured and put in a "bear farm", where the bile is "milked" from their gallbladder every day. A cruel operation to stick a tube in the bear's gallbladder is done by workers who usually have no veterinary training, so the bear is put through what amounts to torture. The bear's wounds are never allowed to heal, so without proper treatment the wounds become infected. This causes intense suffering until they finally die.

The bile, which is used in Chinese traditional medicine, can be made synthetically, so the brutal treatment of the bears is not necessary to obtain the compounds needed for the medicines. However, illegal trade in bear bile and other bear parts continues to exist. This cruel harvest, accompanied by the poaching of baby sloth bears and the killing of their mothers for trying to protect the babies, has decimated the wild population. This animal cruelty cannot go on, or the sloth bears could become extinct in as few as 10 years.